Stock analysis posts tagged "FTSE 250" from Openbook.

Five sessions, a six-day winning streak, a 0.8% slump and a Friday rebound left the FTSE 100 up 1.29 points on the week. Little of it was British news.

The FTSE 100 spent Monday to Wednesday inching towards 10,900 before easing back, while a near-£10bn government affordable-homes allocation gave Vistry its best day since 2020 and a third straight fall in Brent weighed on BP and Shell.

The FTSE 250 record high is a supply signal, not a recovery signal. Mid-cap Britain is being bought and delisted faster than it is being replaced, and the index rises as the market shrinks.

The FTSE 100 ended Monday to Wednesday all but flat as Brent near $92 lifted BP and Shell, while UK inflation rose to 2.9% and the FTSE 250 slipped 0.9%. Kainos and Made Tech surged on guidance upgrades; Smith & Nephew fell as its finance chief quit.

London's blue chips slipped in all three sessions from Monday to Wednesday as Brent crude neared $90 a barrel, with Imperial Brands, Spirax and Legal & General among the fallers while Balfour Beatty hit a record high.

AstraZeneca fell 9% on a reported Bristol Myers Squibb merger approach, Prologis agreed a £14bn deal for SEGRO, and a slide in oil reshaped London's week as the FTSE 250 set back-to-back record closes.